This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods and for improving the efficiency of firefighting robots. The disclosure particularly relates to systems and methods for managing a water supply to a firefighting robot to improve its operating efficiency.
Every year, fires cause numerous deaths and significant property damage. For example, FIG. 1 shows estimated property damages in the United States of America for the years of 2003 to 2012, and FIG. 2 shows a number of firefighter deaths while on-duty in the United States of America for the years of 2005 to 2014. According to the United States Fire Administration, current estimates state that an average of 82.9 firefighters die in fires each year. Various solutions have been proposed in attempts to reduce casualties and property damage caused by fire. One solution currently available is the use of firefighting robots that substitute for firefighters on a fire scene, for example, a building that is on fire. Use of these robots may not only decrease the risk of life-threatening situations for firefighters but also can potentially extinguish a fire faster in an area that may be inaccessible to a firefighter. Such robots have the potential to significantly reduce the need for firefighters to work in hazardous areas and may improve firefighting capabilities.
Although firefighting robots have certain advantages, their effectiveness can be reduced by various limitations. As an example, these robots are generally powered with onboard energy storage devices, such as batteries, which have a limited amount of energy that may be used to power the robots. Current firefighting robots are in general relatively heavy devices and, even with an advertised eight-hour battery life, may only last around two hours in the field under normal operating conditions, including moving from location to location to extinguish fires. These robots are often not very agile and waste energy by having to maneuver around the fire scene while carrying a pressurized hose that couples the robot to a source of water for use in extinguishing the fire. This unwieldiness and inefficiency often diminish the advantages of the robots.
Thus there is an ongoing desire for systems and methods capable of improving the efficiency of firefighting robots by increasing the duration of operation for a given set of conditions while operating on a limited power source.